How to make the perfect company logo

This article was taken from the June issue of Wired
magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before
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"A logo can be a flag for the company; a change of look can help
transform attitudes within the company. It's a standard you can get
your troops behind," says Michael Evamy, author of bestselling book
Logo. "A good one can last decades." So how do you create
your own, and avoid a "Lisa Simpson fellatio" Olympics
disaster?

1) Have a good reason for changing it "It can't be because a new
marketing director wants to put their mark on the business," says
Evamy. "You need a strong impulse for change."

2) Hire a designer "It can get messy if done
in-house, because designers often don't have the respect they need
in order to carry out their job," says Evamy. "Detachment --
outside eyes looking in -- is so valuable."

3) Have a long chat Ruth Kedar designed
Google's globe dominating logo. "You know in Alice Through the
Looking Glass, when she says, 'I need to see what I say to know
what I think'? It's my role to get them to articulate what the idea
is," she says. "An understanding of the people, the product, the
culture and the customers should come first."

4) Try to make it suitable for as many
applications as possible Evamy says the design must be flexible.
"It has to work as well on the side of a truck as on a website, in
black and white as in colour, on stationery, on faxes… It's a
creative opportunity -- if a logo has an element that can be
repeated, you can extend the applications where it is used to
really penetrate the consumer's consciousness."

5) Don't copy other people "Global brands have
adopted swirly globes; they all want to own the world. But there's
nothing for people to relate to. It makes the brands more
anonymous. Xerox, AT&T -- they had fantastic, bold identities
but have gone bland and mushy," says Evamy.

6) Make something that people can project on to
"Everyone needs to see what's being articulated in it," says Kedar.
"For instance, the Apple logo has the connotation of the garden of
Eden -- taking a bite out of something bigger." But Evamy warns
that over abstraction can alienate: "A logo captures a quality that
the company has to live up to. But if they don't, it becomes
meaningless."